Monday, July 30, 2007

Save Studio 60

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip has been shown on TV3 over the past couple of months and recently finished its run here. It has just started in the UK on More 4. I miss watching this programme on a Monday night especially considering that there is so little else on TV at the moment. If you would like to try and save this programme you can pop over to the blog of the boy who likes to and click on the link to the petition that has been set up to save Studio 60. Who knows maybe the Americans that cancelled the programme might see the error of their ways? (You can see that I’m a ‘glass half full’ kind of gal)

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Ayurveda and Dosha

Ayurveda or Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient health care system that comes from the Indian subcontinent. It is currently used on a day to day basis by millions of people in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and has a major influence on Unani, Chinese and Tibetan Medicine, in China, Tibet, and Pakistan. According to ayurveda, the five fundamental elements that make up the universe are space (akasha), air (vayu), fire (agni), water (apu) and earth (prithvi) and they also make up the human physiology. "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "knowledge of life" and uses a concept of three doshas as the manifestations of elemental forces in the physical body. The 3 main doshas are (1) Vata which is a combination of the space and air elements, (2) Pitta which is analogous to the fire element, and (3) Kapha which is a combination of water and earth elements. In Ayurveda, all bodily processes are thought to be governed by a balance of the 3 doshas. The combination of the three doshas that you inherit at conception is called your prakriti or original constitution in ayurveda. Although it is not unheard of for people to have nearly equal proportions of the three doshas or just one very predominant dosha as their prakriti, most people have two doshas that are more or less equally dominant, with the remaining one less dominant. If all doshas are in balance then the person is normal and in good health. Whichever dosha appears to dominate a person's behavior and physique is called his constitution type. Each constitution type has particular strengths and susceptibilities.

Vata

People with more Vata in their constitutions tend to be thin, with a slender frame and prominent joints, delicate skin that is naturally dry, and dry voluminous hair. They are quick and lively in thought, speech and action, and make friends easily. There is an element of airiness to their step, a quality of lightness in their laughter. Change is usually their second name. They are light sleepers and gravitate towards warm environments. Creativity and enthusiasm are hallmarks of balanced Vata.

Pitta

People with more Pitta in their constitutions tend to be of medium proportions, with a frame that is neither petite nor heavy, warm skin that is very fair or ruddy and may be sensitive, and fine hair that tends towards premature graying or thinning. They are sharp and determined in thought, speech and action. There is an element of purpose to their step, an intensity to their voice. Ambition is usually their second name. They are moderate sleepers and gravitate towards cooler environments. Self-confidence and an entrepreneurial spirit are hallmarks of balanced Pitta.

Kapha

People with more Kapha in their constitutions tend to be of larger proportions, with a robust frame and padded joints, thick smooth skin that may tend towards oiliness, and rich, wavy hair. They are stable and calm in thought, speech and action, and are easy-going and supportive in relationships. There is an element of steadiness to their step, a quality of serenity in their smile. Loyalty is usually their second name. They are long, heavy sleepers and uncomfortable in damp, clammy environments. Calm and sweetness of disposition are hallmarks of balanced Kapha.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Paris, je t’aime

Paris, je t’aime is a distinctive and imaginative film made up of 18 different short stories. Originally there was meant to be 20 stories in the film to match the 20 arrondissements (boroughs) of Paris but unfortunately two fell through. Each arrondissement/story is written and directed by a different person. Some of the directors involved were Ethan & Joel Coen, Wes Craven, Alexander Payne and Gus Van Sant. The cast was made up of English, French and Amercian actors with some very recognisable names such as Steve Buscemi, Miranda Richardson, Juliette Binoche, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Rufus Sewell, Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands, and Gérard Depardieu. Some of my favourite stories from the film were ‘Quais de Seine’, ‘Bastille’, ‘Père Lachaise’, ‘Quartier Latin’ and ‘14e arrondissement’. Although all of the stories were different they all followed the theme of love, sometimes it was familial love while at other times it was romantic love. Paris, je t’aime is currently showing in Kino and is definitely worth seeing especially if you are in the mood for a break from the summer blockbusters.

Friday, July 20, 2007

West Cork Animal Welfare Group

If you are ever looking for a cat or a dog as a pet then check out the West Cork Animal Welfare Group website before you head to a pet shop. They have some of the cutest cats, dogs, kittens and puppies all looking for good homes. The West Cork Animal Welfare Group was founded back in May 1999. They help unwanted, abandoned, neglected and abused animals in the West Cork area. Since they have been in operation they have rescued and re-homed over 2,200 animals. All adult dogs are neutered, vaccinated and wormed before they are re-homed and puppies that are too young to be neutered are vaccinated and wormed before being re-homed. The dog in the picture is called Penny and she is just one of the dogs on the website looking for a good home.

The survey also showed that across all countries women spend at least twice as much time cleaning and doing housework compared with their male counterparts. In addition the survey reported that on average Irish women spend 17 hours a week cleaning their homes.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Nationwide Mercury Prize 2007

The Mercury Prize is currently known as the Nationwide Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons. This annual music prize was established by the British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the BRIT Awards which are industry-dominated.

Each year a selection of the best British or Irish albums of the previous 12 months are nominated for the prize. Past winners include Arctic Monkeys with ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ in 2006 and Antony and the Johnsons with ‘I Am a Bird Now’ in 2005.

The nominations for this year’s Mercury prize are as follows:

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst NightmareDizzee Rascal - Maths And EnglishThe View - Hats Off To The BuskersMaps - We Can CreateBat For Lashes - Fur And GoldKlaxons - Myths Of The Near FutureJamie T - Panic PreventionThe Young Knives - Voices Of Animals And MenFionn Regan - The End Of HistoryBasquiat Strings with Seb Rochford - Basquiat StringsAmy Winehouse - Back To BlackNew Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Twentysomething Survey

The results of a survey carried out amongst six hundred 22 to 28 year olds by Bank of Ireland were released today. This research has found that Irish twentysomethings are generally self reliant and financially savvy. Over half of those surveyed are regular savers and put away more than €200 a month. In terms of disposable income apparently men in their 20s spend €110 each month on betting which is more than they spend on clothes. They also spend more on socialising than they do on groceries. In contrast to that women spend an average of €26 on betting but spend significantly more on clothes, shoes, toiletries, beauty products and hairdressing. I don’t think that’s a great surprise to anyone. The biggest monthly outlay is the mortgage, for those 20-somethings that own a house/apartment. Although the average age of a first-time housebuyer is 31 years, the survey has shown that 18% of those in the 22-25 age bracket have a mortgage. In addition to this 38% of those in the 26-28 age group have a mortgage.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Visitors at My Door

I was having a lovely Sunday evening making some pasta in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. As I opened the door I found two guys, dressed mainly in black and looking like English policemen, smiling back at me. Midway through my answering smile I noticed the badges. Both guys were wearing badges with ‘Jesus Christ’ written across the front with other smaller writing around it that I couldn’t read. It was then that I realised that I shouldn’t have answered the door. They introduced themselves (in lovely American accents) and one of the guys explained that they were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons). I said that it wasn’t a good time because I was making dinner and the guy asked was I having anything nice so I said yes, pasta. He then said that he didn’t want to disturb me while I was making dinner but proceeded to talk about his religion anyway and what a difference it had made in his life. I explained that I wasn’t interested in his religion and started to inch away from the door. He then asked was there anyone else in the house that they could talk to so I said no and I went to close the door. But the guy kept talking and asked if I knew if any of my neighbours would be interested in meeting them. As I’m new to the neighbourhood and not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with those living around me I said I didn’t know whether any of my neighbours would like a visit from them. I have to give them full marks for tenacity (and for being highly annoying). It’s a pet hate of mine when people try to push their religion onto other people.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Die Hard 4.0

I went to Die Hard 4.0 a couple of nights ago in the Mahon shopping centre. I rarely go to Mahon because I prefer other cinemas around the city but on this occasion Mahon had the best time choice. This is probably because they had it showing on 3 different screens. The problem was there was a terrible smell of feet all the way through the film. Aside from this slight annoyance I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I saw Die Hard 1&2 a couple of years ago but I’ve never seen the third one, Die Hard: With a Vengeance so I wouldn’t consider myself a big Die Hard fan. However I really enjoyed Die Hard 4.0 even though it was a bit over the top in places. The premise of the film is that John McClane takes on an Internet-based terrorist organisation that is systematically shutting down the United States. I liked the character of the hacker Matt Farrell, he was very funny and had some good lines. I was surprised to see Kevin Smith playing the character of Warlock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play any other character than Silent Bob in his own films (e.g. Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back… etc.). He gave a pretty convincing performance as a computer geek from his ‘command centre’ otherwise known as his Mother’s basement. I also liked the fact that Cliff Curtis (aka the 'Bom Chicka Wah Wah’ guy from Whalerider) played Deputy Director Bowman except perhaps he didn’t have enough screen time. There were some great action bits involving helicopters, cars, trucks and fighter planes. If you like action flicks with humour then you might get a kick out of Die Hard 4.0.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

BellX1 in the Big Blue Tent

BellX1 played in the Marquee in Cork on the first of July and Duke Special played support for the gig. The Marquee was pretty full when we arrived into it to hear Duke Special belting out a few good songs. Then there was the inevitable wait and a certain amount of jostling for a better view of the stage. Our jostling was mainly to move away from the really tall blonde guy that had found his way in front of us or we had managed by bad timing to fall in behind him. Either way it was difficult to see anything through his back so with a small bit of movement most of us could see different parts of the stage.

Before the band came on we were treated to an animated presentation about the band in the style of the A – Team. It was very funny and the crowd seemed to get a kick out of it. Enthusiasm was rife as the band took to the stage but Paul took this enthusiasm to a new level when he almost strangled himself with the microphone lead during one of the early songs. Later on he invited everyone in the big blue tent to sing along with them for the song ‘Flame’ and the crowd duly obliged.

Duran Duran and Slayer had played in the Marquee the previous week and Paul asked the crowd if anybody had been at either of those concerts. He then started to tell a made up story about a Duran Duran fan and a Slayer fan in the lead up to the song ‘Lampposts’. I’m glad to say that many of my favourites were played during the night but alas ‘Still selling shoes wasn’t one of them. Hopefully I’ll get to hear it at their next gig whenever that may be (answers on a postcard please). For once Ratgirl and I were not surrounded by freaks at the gig which was a refreshing experience!

Dictionary Corner

I like having a dictionary and a thesaurus to hand, I know I could just look things up in MS Word but sometimes nothing beats picking up a dictionary and leafing through it. From time to time and whenever the mood takes me I’m going to put up a dictionary corner post. It could be a word that I thinks gets misused (as is the case with today’s word ‘revert’) or it could just be a word I like the sound of or one that just amuses me. Feel free to suggest words for future dictionary corner posts.

Revert is a word that puzzles me, it gets used frequently in business correspondence and I think it gets used incorrectly. I came across a piece in last Saturday’s Irish Times magazine in the ‘What’s Hot / What’s Cold’ section that read ‘Please revert’ - Bizarre misuse of the word, appearing with growing frequency, as in “Please leave a message and I will revert to you on my return”. How do you plan to do that, then?

So the correct dictionary definition for ‘revert’ taken from the compact Oxford English dictionary is:

Revert – verb, (revert to)1. Return to a previous state, practice or belief 2. Biology, the action of an organism returning to a former or ancestral type 3. The legal right, especially of the original owner, to possess or succeed to property when the present possessor dies or a lease ends ORIGIN Latin revertere ‘turn back’

Friday, July 06, 2007

Nine Words Women Use

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing).(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome.(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying F@!K YOU!(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to # 3.

Shrek the Third

I went to see Shrek the Third a couple of nights ago and although it had gotten some bad reviews I enjoyed it. Donkey and puss in boots made the film for me with the help of some of the more minor fairytale characters, especially the gingerbread man. It was funny when donkey and puss in boots switched bodies as a side effect to one of Merlin’s spells and puss in boots could no longer pull off the cute wide eyed look in donkey’s body! I think the Shrek franchise has had a good run with three films, I’m not sure if ‘Shrek 4’ would be a good idea, although with the arrival of baby Shreks who knows how many more films they could squeeze out.